NUTRITIONISTS ARE HORRIFIED, BUT THEY CAN'T STOP THE FORCE THAT IS RESHAPING THE FOOD INDUSTRY--AND OUR BODIES

Let go from his job as a hotel manager last summer, Brad Saltzman had begun to panic by fall. Sure, his bank account was evaporating. But equally upsetting, he says, was that he was seeking too much comfort in the kitchen and was busting out of his belt. Physically and fiscally, Saltzman, 36, was a mess. Then he hit upon a cure-all: low carbs. Saltzman went on the Atkins diet at about the same time he helped launch Pure Foods, a specialty retailer based in Beverly Hills, Calif., that sells only products with comparatively few carbohydrates. Today Saltzman is 25 lbs....